AV Rant #398: Lightning in a Lee
Jeff G. is our Listener of the Week. Thanks, Jeff, for supporting the podcast. The Dolby Atmos Speaker Positions photo album was a hit (LINK). skriss corrected us about why Audyssey Dynamic EQ can sometimes create bloated bass. John thinks gaming PCs top consoles. Lee just built a new PC. And here’s a guide (LINK). Gary thinks some home theater seats are dumb, he’s interested in Datasat as an alternative to Trinnov (LINK), and he wrote to Dolby regarding Pro Logic now that Dolby Surround is here. Ashley asks about 3D TV calibration and speaker wire lengths. Nathan and Eliezer both saw a ridiculous “cable calibration” ad (LINK). Zach wanted to learn more about Burmester products. The review he found made Rob lose it (LINK). Atul asked about Bose vs. JBL and got the quickest answer ever. Joe and Allen both had subwoofer placement questions. Rob wrote directly to the experts at SVS, and the news is good! Lee fills us in on his current bass woes. Michael asked about speaker stands. Cameron asked about slap echo (LINK). Raul loves his new projector, but he isn’t so pleased with having to use “high altitude mode”. And Frank has possibly our most unique question yet: he’s building a gigantic model train and wants to shake the earth with sound! Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:
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AV Rant Listener John M. –
heard us say whether we would choose a PS4 or an Xbox One and wanted to make sure we also represent for the PC gamers!
He shared the video below simply as an example of how you can build a pretty powerful gaming PC for not much more money than one of the newest consoles:
http://youtu.be/7WQxr59KRto?t=3m51s
AV Rant Listener Gary —
is checking out upcoming Atmos home processors and wanted to see if anyone is going toe-to-toe with Trinnov and their upcoming 30.2 channel Atlitude32 model.
Rumor has it that company Datasat will be updating their RS20i and LS10 processors. The only issue is that it’s still likely going to cost upwards of $20,000 to go beyond the 11 simultaneous speaker limit imposed by the first generation of more mass market offerings from the likes of Denon/Marantz, Onkyo/Integra, Yamaha, and Pioneer.
Check out Datasat’s offerings here: http://www.datasatdigital.com/consumer/products/
And you can read about their “mid-range” LS10 processor here: http://www.avforums.com/article/datasat-launch-the-ls10-with-auro-3d.9883
AV Rant Listeners Nathan W. and Eliezer —
both came across one of the more ridiculous ads-disguised-as-an-editorial we’ve ever seen.
Company Transparent Cable isn’t satisfied with you paying over $40,000 in some cases for a length of cable. No, you also – apparently – need to pay to have those cables specifically calibrated to your equipment!
You’d think that for several tens of thousands of dollars, they could build a cable that works with multiple brands of equipment. But no, no! Performance like this requires at least another $350 from you for a “basic” calibration.
Of course, you understand value, don’t you? Why would you pay $350 for a one time calibration when a mere doubling of that price will also get you “certification” that allows you to have your cables calibrated again should you ever change out some of your gear…for no extra charge!
Yup. This nonsense really exists, folks. I just feel sorry for “Brian”. His friends don’t even have names because they’re so imaginary, just giving them a name would break the illusion.
http://transparentcable.com/special/
AV Rant Listener Zach C. —
wanted to know more about a German audio brand called Burmester, and that led him to an — let’s call it — entertaining “high end” review.
If you’re a fan of expectation bias, self-contradiction, convoluted language, and NO measurements what-so-ever, then this is the review for you! Just don’t mistake it for one of those reviews that resembles more of a marketing write up from a glossy brochure. The author of this review hates those…
http://dagogo.com/burmester-system-reference-line-077-pre-amp-top-line-911-mk3-amplifier-and-top-line-100-phono-preamp-review
AV Rant Listener Cameron K. —
wanted to better understand the term “slap echo”.
He found this description from retailer Sweetwater, which describes it pretty well.
And if you’re curious what the “characteristic midrange sound” they mention sounds like, just listen to this episode of AV Rant!
http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/slap-echo/